Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
The day after the Ontario government announced stricter new public health measures, the province is already reversing one of them after negative public feedback. In a tweet on Saturday afternoon, Premier Doug Ford said playgrounds would be allowed to remain open, although the restrictions on outside gatherings will still be enforced.
Ontario’s enhanced restrictions were always intended to stop large gatherings where spread can happen.
Our regulations will be amended to allow playgrounds but gatherings outside will still be enforced. Play outside safely. Parents keep your distance & wear masks if you can’t.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) April 17, 2021
The government is also expected to scale back new powers given to police to stop pedestrians and drivers to ask them why they are not staying at home, after widespread criticism and statements from many police forces across Ontario that their officers would not be using these powers.
Meanwhile, the third wave of the pandemic continues to sweep across Ontario with another 4,362 new cases reported today. The seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 78 to a new record high of 4,370. Toronto is reporting 1,162 new cases and 9 other health units are reporting triple-digit increases.
There are now 32,327 cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant in Ontario, an increase of 2,152 from yesterday, with 2 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant and 5 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is now over 2,000 with more than 700 patients in ICUs and more than 500 patients on ventilators.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 38 new cases and an additional 69 cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 31 to 417. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (1,162), Peel (936), York (430), Durham (301), Ottawa (251), Hamilton (211), Niagara (151), Halton (144), Middlesex-London (117), and Simcoe Muskoka (114).
There are double-digit increases today in Waterloo (84), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (72), Windsor-Essex (70), Brant (46), Eastern Ontario (44), Haldimand-Norfolk (37), Porcupine (31), Grey Bruce (29), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (25), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (18), Southwestern (15), Hastings Prince Edward (16), Sudbury (13), Peterborough (12), and Northwestern (10), with smaller increases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (9), Thunder Bay (7), and Lambton (6).
The remaining 6 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 2 health units (North Bay Parry Sound and Renfrew) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 55% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,632) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,288 cases among people ages 40-59 and 749 cases among people 19 and under.
With 3,611 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 88.3%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.3% to 6.9%, meaning that 69 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 16.
Ontario is reporting 34 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 3 new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 24 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 2 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations has increased by 110 to 2,065, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 25 to 726, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 21 to 501.
A total of 56,852 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 1,295 to 37,520.
A total of 3,751,316 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 107,278 from yesterday, with 344,244 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,311.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.34% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 25.46% of the population, an increase of 0.73% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 38 new cases to report, including 13 in Peterborough, 9 in Hastings Prince Edward, 9 in Northumberland, 5 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton.
There are 30 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 16 in Peterborough, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, 5 in Northumberland, 2 in Haliburton, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.
Outbreaks at St. John Vianney Church in Highland Grove and Our Lady of Lourdes in Cardiff, both in Haliburton County, were declared on April 16.
There are 2 new hospitalizations in Peterborough.
An additional 69 cases have been resolved, including 29 in Peterborough, 28 in Hastings Prince Edward, 10 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton. Outbreaks at Christian Horizons in Port Hope and an unidentified workplace in Peterborough County have been declared resolved.
There are currently 417 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 31 from yesterday, including 126 in Peterborough, 118 in Northumberland, 115 in Hastings Prince Edward (21 in Quinte West, 58 in Belleville, 5 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 16 in Prince Edward County, 9 in Central Hastings, and 6 in North Hastings), 48 in Kawartha Lakes, and 10 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,097 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (959 resolved with 12 deaths), 657 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (569 resolved with 56 deaths), 712 in Northumberland County (583 resolved with 12 deaths), 85 in Haliburton County (75 resolved with 1 death), and 804 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (682 resolved with 7 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on April 16.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 1,097 (increase of 12)*
Total variants of concern cases: 341 (increase of 17)
Active cases: 126 (decrease of 17)
Close contacts: 365 (decrease of 19)
Deaths: 12 (no change)
Resolved: 959 (increase of 29)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 38 (increase of 2)**
Total tests completed: Over 48,150 (no change)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #6 in Peterborough, Trent Champlain Residence: West Towers in Peterborough (decrease of 1)***
Vaccine doses administered: 41,148 (as of April 15)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,427 (as of April 15)
*The health unit is reporting 13 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 1 case removed from a previous day increasing the total case count by 12.
**As of April 16, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 21 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 45 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***An outbreak at an unidentified workplace (#4) in Peterborough County was declared resolved on April 17.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 1,471, including 661 in Kawartha Lakes, 723 in Northumberland, and 87 in Haliburton (increase of 16, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 223, including 76 in Kawartha Lakes, 139 in Northumberland, and 9 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)**
Active cases: 176, including 48 in Kawartha Lakes, 118 in Northumberland, and 10 in Haliburton (increase of 5, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Probable cases: 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Haliburton (increase of 2)
High-risk contacts: Not available***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 55, including 32 in Kawartha Lakes, 20 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 69, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,239, including 570 in Kawartha Lakes, 593 in Northumberland, and 76 in Haliburton (increase of 12, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 167,408
Vaccine doses administered: 38,415 (increase of 8,007 as of April 12)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,047 (increase of 58 as of April 12)
Outbreaks: St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Cobourg, Timber House Resort in Brighton, Swiss Chalet in Cobourg, Cobourg Collegiate Institute in Cobourg, Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft, Grafton Public School in Grafton, St. John Vianney Church in Highland Grove in Haliburton County, Our Lady of Lourdes in Cardiff in Haliburton County (net increase of 1)*****
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***As of April 14, the health unit is no longer reporting high-risk contacts due to a “process change of not collecting high risk information”.
****As of April 16, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
*****An outbreak at Christian Horizons in Port Hope has been resolved. Outbreaks at St. John Vianney Church in Highland Grove and Our Lady of Lourdes in Cardiff, both in Haliburton County, were declared on April 16.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 804 (increase of 9)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 212 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 115 (decrease of 19)
Deaths: 7 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 13 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 1 (no change)
Resolved: 682 (increase of 28)
Tests completed: 120,698 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 50,146 (increase of 1,715)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,281 (increase of 10)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Tri-board Bus #499 in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified community outbreak in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 412,745 (increase of 4,362)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 32,327 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,152); 101 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 207 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 5)*
VOC R(t): 1.23 (last updated April 2)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 4,370 (increase of 78)
Positivity rate: 6.9% (decrease of 1.3%)
Resolved: 364,353 (increase of 3,611), 88.3% of all cases (no change)
Hospitalizations: 2,065 (increase of 110)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 726 (increase of 25)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 501 (increase of 21)
Deaths: 7,698 (increase of 34)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 24 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,912 (increase of 3)
Total tests completed: 13,479,381 (increase of 56,852)
Tests under investigation: 37,520 (decrease of 1,295)
Vaccination doses administered: 3,751,316 (increase of 107,278), 25.46% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.73%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 344,244 (increase of 2,311), 2.34% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)***
*On April 8, the government changed the way it reports cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant. Previously they were reported only when genetic sequencing confirmed they were of the B.1.1.7 lineage. Since genetic sequencing completed to date has determined 95% of specimens screening positive for the N501Y mutation have been found to be the B.1.1.7 UK variant, specimens with the N501Y mutation are now reported as cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant.
**R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.
***An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
